James Joyce creates 50th anniversary identity for Habitat

A number 50 sits off of the brand’s original logo, designed in 1964, and the ‘heart home’ logo introduced in 2002, by then creative director Tom Dixon.

The anniversary identity is set in four colours and features the Campus low back armchair (1973),  Forum armchair by Robin Day (2000), Portrait Chair by Philip Treacy  (2004), and Rocker armchair (2007).

Habitat creative director Polly Dickens, who commissioned Joyce in 2013, says, ‘I felt that Joyce’s style echoed the early graphics of Habitat in the 1960s although moved on into something very much of now and 2014.’

Joyce says, ‘In the concept stage of the artwork I had used various geometric patterns rendered in bright colours, but in the next stage of development I started to look at making those patterns from actual items of furniture.

‘I liked the idea that perhaps you see the pattern initially and then on a secondary level you notice that the design is made up of chairs or
 lighting and then the connection with the products’ history becomes apparent.’

Joyce says he worked with Habitat to trawl through a 50-year archive and select the pieces.

He adds,  ‘There are a lot of very graphic shapes inherent in the designs of Habitat products and so I was able to choose the designs that best allowed me to exploit these shapes to hopefully produce some interesting compositions.’

The anniversary identity will launch in May 2014 appearing across all Habitat channels including limited edition products, ads and marketing touchpoints.